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eoinfinnegan

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Everything posted by eoinfinnegan

  1. And this is why several sites do not allow Fiverr links at all
  2. Now now, don’t be hiding the secret website from people. It’s ok to allow a couple more people access to the super-super secret source of buyers that we have. Maybe we should set up a series of quests that people have to complete before we allow them access to the holy grail. Quest 1: have a quick look at a brief summary of marketing 101 Once that’s done, they will probably realise their folly
  3. Yes, now you mention it I remember that period. A number of people posted screenshots of conversations and the level of English writing and comprehension was questionable although that hasn’t happened recently.
  4. There are tons of sellers on the forum who talk about discussing things like the algorithm with support. As if the support staff are going to have any insider knowledge on that. They would could sell or use any real info they have for far more than their annual salary.
  5. For this you can probably blame the thousands of sellers who create ticket after ticket asking for help, orders, money, and various other things which are nothing to do with support along with others who make tickets for things they could google/find in the seller info area/forum. That’s why the template answers came into being some time back. Before that it was always a personalized answer but the sheer volume of new sellers on Fiverr (many of which will never sell anything) in the past couple of years, it takes a different system to deal with them now. My own experience has generally been positive though. Occasionally an irrelevant template answer but then the second message would usually be personalized. I find brevity, clarity and screenshots where required tend to give a much better response by the way.
  6. Just to add - I don’t engage after an unfair review is left, I just move on. Further irritation and possibility of a warning just aren’t worth maybe feeling good about giving a snarky or harsh response. Make coffee/sangria and move on knowing that some people are just odd and will act in weird ways.
  7. I don’t get too many of these types but when I do I stick to my guns. I can take a few negative reviews here and there if necessary. Usually though, when I do say something blunt and professional in response ie. “that’s not what you asked”, “that’s not what you paid for”, “I’m not going to do that because…”, they settle down and realize I’m not all that interested in their one review. If I had 10 of these in a row then yeah, I would probably have to be more careful but as it is, I think experienced sellers with plenty of reviews should stand up to these types and perhaps give them something to think about.
  8. Yeah, when you view your gig and then scroll to the reviews on that gig. You responded well.
  9. Yes, you should have the option to reply to their review after it appears on your profile. Be professional and simply explain the situation.
  10. This is caused by Fiverr being the far too uncautious about banning people. There’s no real hesitation from what we hear at times. I’d like to think that contacting previous clients in a professional way (as I’m sure you do) would be seen as perfectly legitimate etc but would I risk my account for it? No. I was once told by a Fiverr account manager that there was no issue with me adding clients on LinkedIn and keeping in touch that way, that I could even initiate that contact with them. Have I done it? No, because customer support won’t care that my account manager said that to me a year and a half ago through a Skoipe voice call. Even if they gave me the chance to prove it, what’s the chances that person is still at Fiverr and remembers the conversation? On balance, the risk/reward just isn’t worth it.
  11. en.wikipedia.org NeverlandNeverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place, where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and other mythical creatures and beings live. Although not all people who come to Neverland cease to age, its best known resident famously refused to grow up. The term is often used as a metaphor for eternal childhood (and childishness), immortality, and escapism. The concept was first introduced as "the Never Never Land" in t...
  12. Every site hates people sharing Fiverr gig links - even Fiverrs own forum. It also doesn’t do anything positive for you.
  13. lol… Can you walk into a shop, eat a snickers, and then say: I did not like it and I will not pay for it? That’s it. You can try it - and if the store owner decides they can refund or say no. Same as Fiverr
  14. Explain how that is different to almost any business anywhere? Any business can have a client who is unhappy. They might be unreasonable and demand a refund or leave a review about the company on one or more of the many thousands of review websites online. These businesses can choose to refund and hope the client is happy then or they can take a negative review. Same as on Fiverr. It’s up to you to learn how to deal with customers, that’s freelancing.
  15. To answer the question, your first step will be to build a time machine to go back to a time when Yahoo Answers was relevant.
  16. Nope! I don’t have a problem saying “NO”. Of course, I don’t blatantly so “no”. I use nicer words like unfortunately. “Unfortunately, I can’t do XYZ” project. I always cringe when people say this. I never bought into this tagline! I’d go beyond that by making myself “THE CEO” by taking control of my ship. Managers are underrated and don’t get paid well. I’m curious how did the person react to this line? 🔺 He asked I gave my normal rate and he responded with: and that was it.
  17. Well, since kicking the needy budget cretins aside who seem to have evolved to take other peoples time for granted, I’ve had my most successful freelance year to date. - And when I do wave off a $10-$20 buyer on Fiverr, its usually because I am opting to take on an order which requires zero client communication on what is now my main writing platform. You’re playing the long game. - Be someones best buddy and they will hopefully keep on ordering long into the future. I play the short, diversify everywhere and target the best and easiest revenue stream game. - Is there a $30 order I can take off-Fiverr today right now without any fiddling? If yes, that gets my priority. - Bye bye Mr. Be as Vague as Possible in my Fiverr inbox. Meanwhile, my regulars on Fiverr (all of whom either messaged me with a full brief or ordered directly initially), keep on placing orders for more content without need of constant communication. It flows, it works fine for me, and my way of doing things helps increase income whilst also severing reliance on Fiverr. (And it reduces the unholy amount of time which I still need to spend on Fiverr related admin). In this case, please don’t worry about my personal finances. They are very, healthy thank you. 🙂 That’s all great, glad it works for you - my point was that it is not making you money from Fiverr clients. If you make more/better/easier elsewhere that is a separate thing and fair play for going for it. Eh, nope. It isn’t the long game and isn’t down to being buddy-buddy. Well - that is a load off my mind! Jks, I wasn’t referring to your finances, just the fact that you confirmed - your approach is not making money from those Fiverr clients that I am referring to. My OP and comments here are more related to making money through Fiverr and from clients here but of course, there are other alternatives that might be better for some.
  18. I fully agree. Sadly, my biggest gripe is not being able to set a fixed number of revisions or stop buyers hitting the revision button 1, 2, 5, 10 times just because they can. - Being able to do that gives them the power. This is actually why I decline to work with most buyers. Everything you say is sound. It just can’t be practically applied to a system which can see buyers physically hit the revision button however many times they like, and get fully delivered orders canceled by CS on request. From my own experience, saying no more and closing even potentially problem orders down at the message stage, has boosted my productivity and earnings considerably. This is perhaps not the kind of customer service Fiverr wants. However, as far as ongoing workflow and new orders go, limiting your services also makes them scarcer and increases demand. (At least in my opinion). By modus operandi when faced with messages like: Is to say a simple: “No, sorry.” In cases where that buyer may then place an order, (and they often do) it is because they have found one or more sellers willing to take on their request. Sadly, they have had deliveries returned to them which are simply unusable. The next time I hear from them, they are, therefore, pleading for help rather than trying to make me beg for work. I see this as my way of helping people learn for themselves that super cheap often also means super nasty. As a result, they grow as individuals, learn how to invest in their own business, and increase their chances of entrepreneurial success in the long-term. (Though I am a wee bit evil in this regard.) All that said, if I could set up a gig where buyers could only hit the revision button however many times I say they can and not have orders canceled unless I fail to deliver, I would likely bring my way of communicating with buyers more in line with yours. 🙂 Yep - this really irritates me. I want to offer zero revisions and I dont want clients to mistakenly think they are entitled to them. Unfortunately Fiverr seems unable or unwilling to allow me this “grace”. However, they need to really change their messages. Look at what shows up when a buyer goes to click “Accept”: It is a wonder that anyone clicks Accept when they see this! Why does it say this on a gig that doesn’t and never has offered revisions? However, even if this situation is a bit more Sh#t Happens! than Get Sh#t Done, I think there are ways to handle it. I tend not to get the serial revision requesters but that is likely down to my categories. However, I do believe that if one firmly establishes their value initially that it is easier and more effective to refuse these. On the few occasions it has happened, I handled it in a similar way to handling someone asking for discounts. As for CS cancellations - I haven’t had that happen so I dunno, it just seems extremely odd. I do like the way you handle those to a point, I just don’t think it is making you money - although you are providing the world with a charitable service, namely educating people.
  19. We all get them: Buyer wants a discountBuyer wants a free sampleBuyer wants more than he has paid forBuyer asks for a revision which is actually completely different to what was orderedBuyer wants to discuss something at length before/after an orderBuyer wants to cancel after deliveryVery often, people on the forum complain about this type of buyer and label them as “bad buyers”. However, that is not always the case and I would suggest that the number of actual “bad buyers” is significantly less than one might imagine based on the number of posts about them. What I have found at every level and various price points is that these requests come from a place of not understanding, not realizing, not being aware of what they are doing. This might sound absurd but having experimented with various ways of handling these situations, the vast majority of such questions are actually manageable, if done in the right way. Firstly, there will always be exceptions and some unreasonable people. However, if you seem to get more problematic buyers than others, then it is likely to be time to look at yourself and how you manage things. If you have ever worked in retail, you will be aware of just how odd the general public can be. If you haven’t, then you would be in for a shock. So what do you do when you find yourself dealing with someone who acts like this?The simple solution is to “get rid of them”. Simply sending a negative reply will get rid of some, while others will have a pointless retort such as “this is terrible customer service”, “why are you even offering this then?” or “I found someone who will do it cheaper”.Or, you can address what they have said with a professional responseThanks for your message, unfortunately I don’t do x, y, z but I can do a, b, c, would that work for you?No I don’t offer discounts on my services as my prices are already lower than I charge anywhere else.I would be happy to change the order for you and have included a custom extra below to cover the additional cost of making this change for you.Sorry, but I don’t cancel after I have done the work. If there is something you would like changed then we can discuss the options for that.Or, you can just do what they want and then moan about it later, having spent 6 hours working on a $5 order Please don’t do this. It devalues you and everyone else on the site. More than that, it will actually demotivate you and cause your work and customer service to suffer for other clients. If you have 6 hours to spare, instead of working for less than $4, work on promoting yourself, learn how to use social media, blogging, and other promotion methods. This will be much more valuable to you than the “lost” $4.Saying no to someone is not a bad thing.There is a misconception among sellers that saying no is going to end up badly. They think “the customer is always right” means that they have to do whatever they want. This is simply not true and is definitely not what Mr. Selfridge meant when he coined it. Read the top 5 reasons why this phrase is wrong, or actually, why what people think it means is wrong. In fact, I would go so far as to say that you should put yourself FIRST and the customer SECOND. Now, that is not a slogan that any company will ever use publicly but if that is your mentality (and you have any kind of business sense) it will make you more successful and lead to better served and happier customers. Valuing Yourself ProperlyValuing yourself and respecting your own boundaries will actually make you better at what you do, as well as happier. It leads you to speak with customers from the same level, as an equal, as the person in control. If you are good at what you do, this is extremely good for customers because you will not waste their time, you will price fairly and be happy to deal with that customer - all of which means they feel they have got a better service. You come across as a professional. You know why some people always ask to see the manager? It’s because they want the person in authority, the decision maker. MAKE YOURSELF “THE MANAGER” by valuing yourself properly. Then, when you say no, the customer knows you mean it and take your word as being the final word. If it is about price, be clear about why the price can’t or has to change - eg. I had this conversation recently: Now, my response was friendly and clear as well as establishing the fact that I value myself correctly. It had a little humor, but was also quite straight to the point - what you are offering is not enough, period. This has resulted in a series of projects with this client and will total 250k words by the end, all at my going rate with a small discount that I offered after the first 50,000 words. If I had just said “No” to the client, that would have been the end of it. If I had accepted that rate, I would be absolutely miserable working on this while having to send away higher paying clients. Moreover, the client is exceptionally happy with the work and the overall experience. Now, this situation is just one of many similar cases where the initial contact with the client was what others would call negative. Some clients do not order with me because my price is higher than their budget - that’s ok. They go away disappointed because they cannot work with me - some even come back weeks or months later having saved up the required amount! So there you have it, dealing with “bad buyers” is not so bad usually. How you handle them can dramatically change things for both of you. Try it out next time and see how it goes. If you disagree or can take nothing else from this whole post, just go read the Valuing Yourself Properly section again.
  20. Nah, its kinda like having a BMW body with a Lada engine. Some of us prefer to hide our Hobit feet, I know from other posts that you go by the “if you have it, flaunt it” mantra. On a shorty like me, those will look like knee-high boots!
  21. Didn’t see that. Will try to find it. First message must be responded to within 24 hours - after that it doesnt count, even with a year between messages. I use consultation gigs where people can ask me any question about a particular subject for $25. Within an active order page, as part of the message box - you will see it there
  22. With any order, you can add a custom extra to the order at any time - that’s how you charge for additional revisions.
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